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He was born in Maghull but his family moved to Wynfield in Speakman’s Lane (which became Flax Lane), Lathom, and John was studying to be an electrical engineer before war was declared.

Royal Aircraft Factory FE 2B plane as flown by local Royal Flying Corps pilot Lt John Oscar Pilkington.

After initially enlisting with the 2nd Bn Liverpool Regiment and serving in Salonika, Lt Pilkington was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, 20th Squadron and became a temporary Lieutenant and then was gazetted as a Lieutenant in June 2016.

His plane, an FE 2B, came under enemy fire over France, the plane caught fire and was completely wrecked on offensive patrol and both John and his gunner, 2nd Airman H Matthews, were lost.

Both men are buried in the Bailleul Communal Cemetery.

Burscough man Pte 203305 John Lamb, 18th Bn Liverpool Regiment died of wounds at the 53rd Casualty Clearing Station on September 4.

He left a widow, Martha.

John is buried in the Bailleul Communal Cemetery.

Pte Albert George Roberts, 148555, 635th MT Coy, Army Service Corps; died on September 10 1917 in British East Africa.

He had lived at Allendale Farm, Aughton, before the war.

He is commemorated in the Dodoma Cemetery, Tanzania. He left a widow, Catherine.

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He left behind his wife of 14 years, Ethel May (née Margetts) and three daughters, Ethel, born 1904, Elsie, born 1907, and Marion, born 1912.

James is remembered in the Dozinghem Military Cemetery near Ypres.

Gunner John Pardoe Aspinall, 161116, A Battery, 153rd Brigade, RFA, died on September 18.

Baptised at Rufford St Mary’s on May 1, 1892, John was the son of canal boatman George Aspinall, (who died in 1915)and his wife, Mary, née Pardoe.

He is remembered in the Hermies Hill British Cemetery, Pas-De-Calais, France.

Ballieul Communal Cemetary

The above men are just eight of the 18 men from the district who were casualties during September 1917 and are also remembered on the Comrades Memorial Plinths in the Coronation Park.

For more on these men and the 326 others named on the Comrades Memorials, contact the Ormskirk & District Family History Society at www.odfhs.website/pages/ or the Lathom & Burscough Military Heritage Society at http://lbmhs.co.uk/